[Paper Review] Blockchain in Global Supply Chains and Cross Border Trade: A Critical Synthesis of the State-of-the-Art, Challenges and Opportunities

Yanling Chang, Eleftherios Iakovou+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jan 5, 2019

Blockchain Technology Applications and Security22 references116 citations

TL;DR

This paper surveys the current state, challenges, and opportunities of blockchain in global supply chains and cross-border trade, highlighting pilots, capabilities, and implications for governance, with a view toward future research directions.

ABSTRACT

Blockchain in supply chain management is expected to boom over the next five years. It is estimated that the global blockchain supply chain market would grow at a compound annual growth rate of 87% and increase from \$45 million in 2018 to \$3,314.6 million by 2023. Blockchain will improve business for all global supply chain stakeholders by providing enhanced traceability, facilitating digitisation, and securing chain-of-custody. This paper provides a synthesis of the existing challenges in global supply chain and trade operations, as well as the relevant capabilities and potential of blockchain. We further present leading pilot initiatives on applying blockchains to supply chains and the logistics industry to fulfill a range of needs. Finally, we discuss the implications of blockchain on customs and governmental agencies, summarize challenges in enabling the wide scale deployment of blockchain in global supply chain management, and identify future research directions.

Motivation & Objective

• Motivate the study by highlighting the expected growth and impact of blockchain in supply chains.
• Synthesize existing challenges and enabling capabilities for blockchain adoption in global trade.
• Identify leading pilot initiatives and their needs across stakeholders in logistics and customs.
• Discuss implications for customs and governmental agencies and outline future research directions.

Proposed method

• Review and synthesis of the existing literature on blockchain in supply chains and cross-border trade.
• Critical analysis of challenges, capabilities, and potential benefits across stakeholders.
• Compilation and discussion of leading pilot initiatives in supply chains and logistics.
• Evaluation of governance implications and policy considerations for widespread deployment.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the key challenges facing blockchain adoption in global supply chains and cross-border trade?
• RQ2 What capabilities and benefits can blockchain provide to different supply chain stakeholders?
• RQ3 What are the leading pilot initiatives applying blockchain to supply chains and logistics, and what needs do they address?
• RQ4 What are the governance and regulatory implications for customs and governmental agencies, and what future research directions are needed?

Key findings

• Blockchain is expected to boost traceability, digitization, and chain-of-custody across the global supply chain.
• Market projections show rapid growth in blockchain-enabled supply chain applications, with significant investment and pilots.
• There are identified challenges (operational, technical, governance) to scaling blockchain in cross-border trade.
• Pilot initiatives demonstrate practical applications and需求 across logistics, including customs-related processes.
• Policy and governance considerations are critical to enable wide-scale deployment and interoperability.